Xpanding Xmas

Holiday Movies Open Early-and Hope To Stay

November 20, 1988|By Dave Kehr, Movie critic.

Christmas isn`t what it used to be in the movie business.

For one thing, it now starts in the middle of November.

Once upon a time, the industry would concentrate most of its new releases in the two weeks around Christmas and New Year`s Day. That`s the time of the year when the rewards are highest-as vacationing families pack movie theaters everywhere-but it`s also the period when the risks are greatest. The competition is, or was, too intense: If your big-budget film didn`t emerge from the pack right away, chances were that it never would.

But when ``Star Trek IV`` opened at Thanksgiving two years ago and played to excellent business through the holiday season, the studios got the message. The conventional wisdom-that people were too busy with shopping to see movies before the holiday proper-fell by the roadside, leaving the way open to a longer, more leisurely release period in which films could build a good word- of-mouth before the attendance explosion of the holiday weeks.

The kinds of movies that come out at Christmas have changed, too. While studios once tried to buy an immediate impact for their films, relying on expensive stars or extravagant production values to capture the public`s attention, that pressure is no longer there.

With more time for a movie to build, big casts are no longer necessary, and indeed, this season promises only one mega-star vehicle-the Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise ``Rainman,`` which is set for a relatively late Dec. 16 release. There`s no sign at all of the epic adventures and science-fiction spectaculars that saw Hollywood through the first half of the `80s.

Instead, the genre of choice is comedy, where stars and budgets don`t matter as long as the picture has two or three good jokes that people can tell their friends. It`s the ultimate word-of-mouth genre, for a season now long enough to exploit it.

Here, in alphabetical order, is what we can expect between now and the end of the year:

gets a remake, with Michael Caine and Steve Martin as Riviera con men who risk their careers on a bet: Who can be the first to seduce American tourist Glenne Headly. Frank Oz, late of the Muppets, directed; Dale Launer (``Ruthless People``) reworked the original screenplay by Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning. (Dec. 14)

``Far North``-Playwright-actor Sam Shepard tries his hand at film direction, working from his own screenplay about a Minnesota family on the verge of collapse. With Jessica Lange, Charles Durning, Tess Harper, Donald Moffat, Ann Wedgeworth and Patricia Arquette. (Nov. 23)

``Full Moon in Blue Water``-Regional whimsey from director Peter Masterson (``The Trip to Bountiful``), which finds a group of lonely characters clustered in a broken-down bar on the Texas Gulf Coast. With Gene Hackman, Teri Garr, Burgess Meredith and Elias Koteas. (Nov. 23)

``Hellbound: Hellraiser II``-Just in time for the holiday season, it`s the sequel to Clive Barker`s tale of dimension-hopping sexual perversities. Clare Higgins, after being bludgeoned to death in the original, is back as a blood-drinking spirit, still in pursuit of innocent teen Ashley Laurence. Tony Randel directed. (Dec. 23)

``I`m Gonna Git You Sucka``-Writer-director Keenan Ivory Wayans

(``Hollywood Shuffle``) parodies the black exploitation genre of the early

`70s with the help of some of its veterans: Jim Brown, Bernie Casey and Isaac Hayes. (Dec. 14)

(``Midnight Express``), written by Chris Gerolmo (``Miles from Home``).

(Dec. 9)

``My Stepmother Is an Alien``-Dan Aykroyd is a widowed scientist who makes contact with an extraterrestrial (Kim Basinger) and marries her, which causes more than the usual resentment from his 13-year-old daughter (Alyson Hannigan). Richard Benjamin directs the comic aftermath, which also features Jon Lovitz, Joseph Maher and Seth Green. (Dec. 9)

quickly canceled) TV show, ``Police Squad!``. Leslie Nielsen is back as Lt. Frank Drebin, LA`s most oblivious law-enforcement officer; the balance of the cast, also heavily redolent of the Universal Studios contract roster of the early 1970s, includes Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, Priscilla Presley and O.J. Simpson. (Dec. 2)